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Monday, 15 October 2012

Traditional French Meal in the Heart of Leslieville

Date night with a french flare is one of the few things that my wife and I rarely have the chance to take advantage of. Fortunately we were been able to do a baby-sitting swap with our nieghbours across the street. They watch ours, we watch theirs, that kind of thing. I digress.

We made a reservation at a restaurant in Leslieville in the East end of Toronto. One of those "up and coming" areas that is actually "up and coming".

The restaurant is Fare Bistro. A lovely little place that strikes you as high end and the feel really is. In a traditional French style the atmosphere is fantastic. Quiet, yet not in the way that you are going to get shushed by others.

Our fantastic server greeted us and showed us to our table. My wife and I decided to of with the Prix Fixe menu that they run on Tuesdays to Thursdays. We weren't let down either.

We started with an app that we split. The house pate with mushrooms, green peppercorns, and Armagnac. Cornichons and warm baguette. Let me qualify by saying that I'm not a fan of pate, but OMG this was yummy! The portion was right and the warm baguette helped it melt in your mouth.

I also had the fresh beef and barley soup. This is one of my favourite kinds of soup, so I had to try. The thing that impressed me the most was that there was slices of perfectly cooked beef. Not the stuff that was leftover from the night before either.

We moved on to the mains. I with my roasted chicken and my wife with the mushroom risotto.

The risotto was was fantastic. The right consistency and a great mix of 4 different types of mushrooms. My chicken was, well....NO SWISS CHALET! It was a supreme of chicken and the seasoning was perfect. Crispy seared on the outside and juicy and tender inside. The veggies weren't raw nor were they grey. The prep and presentation was ideal.

You know how you sometimes check out a restaurant's website before you go to check out the menu and they have pictures of the food? Well the Creme Brulee I had for desert looked exactly like the one on their website. And it tasted as good as it looked.

I kid you not. This is what it looked like. Same cookie and everything!

Now on to the good stuff. Not that the food isn't.

The wine we had was the 2010 Saint Chinian - Domaine du Sacre Coeur, Languedoc France. The price point on this was about where it should be at $50 per bottle and worth every drop. I chose that particular one as it was a good compromise for both the chicken and the mushroom risotto.

As for our dessert wine, we had a glass of Muscat de Beaums de Venice Vidal Fleury

A bargain at $10 per glass.

They also have a BYOW for a corkage of $20/bottle.

So my overall conclusions for Fare Bistro.

Go. Take your friends, tell your friends about it, and seek out the food that chef Brad Clark is bringing to you.

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Matt the Wine Guy

I grew up on the North Shore of Lake Erie now living in Toronto.
It wasn't until a few years ago that I really began to appreciate wine. I want to change the way people think about wine by making sure they understand it.
If they still want enjoy a wine from a box, there isn't anything wrong with that.
Currently in school for the (CAPS) Sommelier program at George Brown College.
Smart Serve Certified.
I hope to hear from you soon!
Matt